B-C Update

B-C Update

Article excerpt

(BC-Van-Dongen-Quits-Clark)

Premier Christy Clark is firing back at John Van Dongen after the Abbotsford M-L-A quit the Liberals to join the Conservatives.

Van Dongen accused Clark of a failure in leadership, but Clark says leadership means working to keep the free enterprise coalition together for B-C voters, and all van Dongen has done is make it easier for the N-D-P to get elected.

Clark says van Dongen has made a bad decision and she doesn't believe his move will lead to other Liberals abandoning the party. (The Canadian Press)

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(BC-BC-Rail)

John Van Dongen's defection from the Liberal party yesterday sparked a renewed debate in the legislature today on the B-C Rail scandal.

Van Dongen said one reason he quit was he couldn't get answers from the government on why it paid six (m) million dollars to cover the legal bills of two former government aides who pleaded guilty to trading in government secrets over the B-C Rail sale.

The N-D-P went searching for its own answers today, demanding the government hold a public inquiry into the B-C Rail affair.

But Justice Minister Shirley Bond told the legislature the auditor general is conducting a review of the legal bill payment and the government is co-operating fully with that review. (The Canadian Press)

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(BC-Stanley-Cup-Riot) There won't be any big parties in downtown Vancouver this year if the Vancouver Canucks advance through the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The city has laid out a plan to avoid the riot that erupted last June after thousands of people were invited downtown to watch the final game of the playoffs on a giant outdoor T-V screen.

The exact details of the plan haven't been worked out yet, but the city says it wants to focus on smaller events at community centres and block parties.

The city also says its officials have been working with the police, TransLink and other agencies to prevent another riot, including by cracking down on people taking booze on SkyTrain. (The Canadian Press)

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(BC-RCMP-Class-Action)

The R-C-M-P has been hit with a class action lawsuit accusing the force of sexually harassing its female officers. …